2010/2295(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)

- having regard to Articles 258 and 260 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Hopes that Parliament and the Committee on Petitions will be actively involved in the development of the citizens’ initiative with a view to helping it fully achieve its objectives and ensuring enhanced transparency in the EU decision- making process, allowing citizens to suggest improvements, changes or additions to EU law, while seeking to prevent this public platform from being used solely for publicity purposes;

Amendment 11 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Hopes that the Committee on Petitions will be given the task of following up European Citizens’ Initiatives registered with the Commission;

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1b. Hopes that Citizens’ Initiatives which have not received a million signatures within the required time can be referred to Parliament’s Committee on Petitions for more detailed discussion;

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)

1c. Calls for the Committee on Petitions to be the committee representing the European Parliament at the Parliament and Commission public hearing of representatives who have gathered a million signatures for their Citizens’ Initiatives, thus enabling the hearing to benefit from the committee’s experience and legitimacy;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Draws attention to the fact that the Charter of Fundamental Rights acquired legally binding force with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and underlines the importance of the Charter, given the new boost it has provided to the activities of the EU and the Member States in this field, and is confident that ~~it will help increase citizens’ awareness and understanding of fundamental rights;~~ the European Commission - as guardian of the Treaties - will do everything in its power to ensure the effective implementation of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Takes note of the Commission’s Declaration entitled ‘Strategy for the effective implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights by the European Union’ and considers that a genuine culture of fundamental rights must be developed, promoted and reinforced in both the EU institutions and the Member States, in particular when they apply and implement EU law; takes the view that the information activities concerning the Union's role and powers in the area of fundamental rights referred to in the 'Strategy' should be specific and comprehensive, in order to ensure that powers are not arbitrarily passed back and forth between the Commission and the Member States in the future, particularly in connection with sensitive issues;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Stresses, however, that, in spite of the large number of petitions concerning the rights contained in the Charter, the Commission consistently refuses, owing to a lack of legal instruments, to take action to prevent flagrant breaches of fundamental rights in the Member States;

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Welcomes the Commission’s decision to declare 2013 the ‘European Year of Citizenship’ in order to give momentum to the debate on European citizenship and inform EU citizens of their rights - above all regarding the admissible usage of the various instruments at EU level; takes the view that the ‘European Year of Citizenship’ should be used for the broad dissemination of information on the new 'European citizens initiative', in order to forestall a high rate of inadmissibility comparable to the rate that is still to be found in the 'petitions' field; considers that at the same time a debate should be opened on the limited scope of the 'Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union';

Amendment 18 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Welcomes the establishment of the one- stop shop for citizens seeking advice or recourse or making complaints through ‘Your EU Rights’; welcomes the steps taken by the Commission to streamline the existing public assistance services that serve to inform citizens about their rights at EU level and the means of redress available in the event of infringements; ~~points out, however,~~stresses that the European institutions need to provide more information and act with greater transparency;

Amendment 2 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. bearing in mind the importance of the petitions process and its specific attributes which enable the committee responsible to seek and provide solutions ~~for~~and to defend EU citizens who petition Parliament,

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Welcomes the establishment of the one- stop shop for citizens seeking advice or recourse or making complaints through ‘Your EU Rights’; welcomes the steps taken by the Commission to streamline the existing public assistance services that serve to inform citizens about their rights at EU level and the means of redress available in the event of infringements; points out, however, that the European institutions need to provide more information and act with greater transparency, in particular by guaranteeing easy access to documents, and preserving confidentiality of identity for petitioners who request it;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Draws attention to its resolution on the activities of the European Ombudsman in 2009 and encourages the Ombudsman to guarantee access to information and respect for the right to good administration, which are indispensible prerequisites for public trust in institutions; endorses the Ombudsman's Recommendation to the Commission in relation to Complaint 676/2008/RT with regard to excessive delays in responding to the Ombudsman;

Amendment 22 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Notes that petitions received in 2010 continued to focus on the environment, fundamental rights, the internal market and justice; ~~adds that in geographical terms, the largest proportion of petitions referred to a specific Member State – Spain (16%) – or the Union as a whole (16%), followed by Germany, Italy and Romania;~~

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11a. Stresses the importance of cooperation between the Commission and the Member States, and deplores the negligence displayed by certain Member States in connection with the implementation and enforcement of European environmental legislation;

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11a. Considers that the Commission should monitor compliance with and implementation of European environmental legislation more strictly at every point in the proceedings, and not only when a final ruling has been given;

Amendment 25 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Considers that, tohe Commission should ensure correct implementation of the EIA, SEIA, Habitats and Birds Directives, by the~~re is a need for stricter guidelin~~ Member States, based on recommendations from Parliament’s own competent committee, with which the Committee on Petitions will readily work to ensure that citizens’ concerns are better reflected in future environmental action;

Amendment 26 #

Victor BOŞTINARU, Nikolaos SALAVRAKOS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Points out that, in many instances, petitions have uncovered problems related to the transposition and enforcement of European law and recognises that launching infringement proceedings does not necessarily provide citizens with immediate solutions to their problems; notes, however, that there are other means of monitoring and applying pressure that could be used;

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Stresses that ~~closer~~the participation and the close and systematic cooperation ~~with~~of the Member States is extremely important for the work of the Petitions Committee; encourages Member States to play a proactive role in responding to petitions related to the implementation and enforcement of European law, and considers the presence of Member State representatives at Petitions Committee meetings to be of the utmost importance;

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22

22. Stresses that closer cooperation with the Member States is extremely important for the work of the Petitions Committee; encourages Member States to play a proactive role in responding to petitions related to the implementation and enforcement of European law, and considers the presence and the active cooperation of Member State representatives at Petitions Committee meetings to be of the utmost importance;

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23

23. Considers that the Petitions Committee should forge closer working links with similar committees in Member States’ national and regional parliaments and conduct fact-finding missions to promote mutual understanding of petitions on European issues, and vice versa, in order to gain an insight into the various working methods of national petitions committees so that the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament is in a position to take a conscious and farsighted decision when rejecting a petition on grounds of competence issues;

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. bearing in mind the importance of the petitions process and its specific attributes which should enable the committee responsible to seek and provide solutions for EU citizens who petition Parliament,

Amendment 30 #

Victor BOŞTINARU, Nikolaos SALAVRAKOS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24

24. Takes note of the number of petitioners who turn to Parliament for redress on issues that fall outside the EU's area of competence – such as the enforcement of national courts’ decisions or passivity on the part of various administrations – and points out that Parliament attempts to resolve the situation by forwarding these complaints to the competent authorities; welcomes the new procedure put in place by Parliament's DG Presidency and DG IPOL with regard to the registration of petitions;

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Stresses the need to bring greater transparency to the management of petitions: internally by giving Members direct access to petition files via the E- petition application, by simplifying the internal procedure and by close cooperation between the members, the chair and the secretariat of the Committee on Petitions, and externally by establishing an interactive Web portal for petitioners;

Amendment 32 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. ~~Stresses~~Points to the need to bring greater transparency to the management of petitions: internally by giving Members direct access to petition files via the E- petition application, and externally by establishing an interactive Web portal for petitioners;

Amendment 33 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Stresses the need to bring greater transparency to the management of petitions: internally by giving Members direct access to petition files via the E- petition application, and externally by establishing an interactive Web portal for petitioners; considers, moreover, that Members should have access in the e- Petition application to petitions from petitioners who have requested anonymity;

Amendment 34 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26

26. Calls for the creation, as a matter of urgency, of a dedicated Web portal for petitions, offering an interactive template for the recording thereof and providing information for citizens about Parliament’s remit and what can be achieved by petitioning it, as well as links to alternative means of redress at European and national level and a comprehensive description of the EU’s powers so as to eliminate confusion between the competences of the EU and those of the Member States; takes the view that, alternatively, consideration should be given to the possibility of including in this interactive template a compulsory question concerning the competence or competences involved, where a tick can be placed against a comprehensive list of competences;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas citizens of the EU are directly represented by Parliament, and the right of petition offers them the means to address their representatives if they consider that their rights have been infringed and if the subject of their petition comes within the field of activity of the Committee on Petitions,

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas the implementation of European legislation has a direct impact on EU citizens and residents, who are the best placed to assess its effectiveness and its shortcomings and to signal remaining loopholes that need to be closed to ensure better implementation of EU legislation by the Member States, and whereas the Committee on Petitions should become a priority contact,

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas, however, in some cases many Member States remain reluctant to cooperate actively with the responsible committee, and fail, for example, to attend meetings of the committee or to reply to letters sent to them; whereas this denotes a failure to cooperate with the institution in good faith,

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital P a (new)

Pa. whereas, given that very many petitions relate to projects with a potential environmental impact, it would be desirable for the Committee on Petitions to consider treating such petitions, relating to projects which are the subject of a public inquiry, in a way which optimises the committee’s decision- making time vis-à-vis both the petitioner and the state of progress on the project,

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital S

S. whereas, bearing in mind the significant number of petitions pending subject to infringement procedures launched by the Commission, in its previous activity report and its opinion on the Commission's annual report on monitoring the application of Community law, the Committee on Petitions requested regular updates on the progress of infringement procedures related to petitions,

Amendment 9 #